Pit, Loculus, and Ossuary: The Family and the Individual in Late Second Temple Judean Burial Caves
From the Hasmonean period until 70 c.e., there were three consecutive types of family burial in Judea: pit-bench caves, loculi caves, and ossuaries. In each, the treatment of skeletal remains and their distribution within the caves attest to different types of family relationships and different ways...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
2022
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2022, Volume: 388, Pages: 211-233 |
| Further subjects: | B
Burial
B Ossuaries B Individualism B Hasmoneans B Family |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | From the Hasmonean period until 70 c.e., there were three consecutive types of family burial in Judea: pit-bench caves, loculi caves, and ossuaries. In each, the treatment of skeletal remains and their distribution within the caves attest to different types of family relationships and different ways in which families perceived themselves. It is suggested that the place of the individual within the family developed gradually along with these burial methods. Pit-bench caves from the Hasmonean period were used by a limited number of families who wished to strengthen their ties or self-identity. The skeletal remains in most of the loculi and ossuaries included adults and children who were buried together. Those buried in the loculi and ossuaries were probably nuclear families, maintaining their identity in relation to other members of the extended family who may have been buried in other loculi/ossuaries in the cave. This attests to the growing importance of the nuclear family in society. Burying a person with only a few close relatives (e.g., young children and spouse) commemorated the individual’s identity. Interment in loculi, and to a greater degree in ossuaries, rendered the identity of the nuclear family and the individual more distinct from other nuclear families and individuals in the cave. |
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| ISSN: | 2769-3589 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1086/720557 |